


zenith

by itisicloacina



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies), X-Men (Movieverse)
Genre: Beach Divorce (X-Men), Beach Divorce Fix-It (X-Men), M/M, well like a fix some of it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-13
Updated: 2020-05-13
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:47:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24154546
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itisicloacina/pseuds/itisicloacina
Summary: Maybe it’s that feeling, the sudden void where peace had been, fleetingly, or maybe it’s the way Shaw still hangs in the air, dying but not quite dead - but instead of lifting Shaw by his cuff links and dragging him into the the sunlight for all to see, Erik finds himself turning away; out of that odd mirrored room and back to the jet he had left Charles in.Beach divorce fix-it.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Comments: 8
Kudos: 136





	zenith

**Author's Note:**

> Sooo, I remember very vaguely seeing a tumblr tag once suggesting that had Erik noticed that Charles had felt the coin go through Shaw then the beach scene would probably have ended quite differently, and i can't for the life of me remember who said it but! its a v good point.
> 
> i really wanted to have a go at writing it, so yesterday i found myself shoving every other WIP i have (of which there are,,,, many) to one side to write this out instead. enjoy!

The first thing Erik realizes, standing alone in a mirrored room on a beached submarine in Cuba, is that Charles had been right.

Not about everything, obviously, God no - but killing Shaw does not bring him peace. When the coin bores into Shaw’s forehead, there is a moment where he can breathe - but that feeling fades almost as quickly as it came. This isn’t over. None of it is.

Shaw doesn’t fall to the ground when the coin comes out the other side, as Erik had expected - he stays suspended in midair, motionless. Surprised, Erik presses a finger to Shaw’s pulse point - but sure enough, it’s fading.

Shaw isn’t dead, but he will be soon.

Maybe it’s that feeling, the sudden void where peace had been, fleetingly, or maybe it’s the way Shaw still hangs in the air, dying but not quite dead - but instead of lifting Shaw by his cuff links and dragging him into the the sunlight for all to see, Erik finds himself turning away; out of that odd mirrored room and back to the jet he had left Charles in.

The jet is empty and in ruin - Charles had been the only one still in it when Erik had left, and God knows where he is now, after Erik had cut off the bond that had been growing between them for weeks - literally and physically. He swallows down the feeling rising in him, something suspiciously like guilt - he’s done what he needed to. He’s avenged his mother’s death. He’s killed Shaw. There’s no guilt to be felt for that.

Erik winces as he wades through the wreck, feeling flayed remnants of wires and paneling with his power. Getting off of this beach won’t be easy, but he can’t think about that now. All he needs to do is find Charles.

Then Erik looks down, and sees that the jet isn’t as empty as he had thought.

Charles is crumpled on the floor, among the wreckage, and his palm is pressed to his forehead, eyes shut tight, and he looks so _helpless_ that it makes Erik stop for a moment, startled.

“Charles?” Erik asks, but it clearly doesn’t go through, because Charles is curled up in the exact same position and he has evidently been worryingly still for a while now.

“Charles,” Erik says, softer, and he kneels down and the world is falling apart right outside this airplane and Erik doesn’t care because Charles is hurt. He reaches out, touches his shoulder, and Charles flinches so hard in response that Erik jumps back a step.

Panic starts rising in Erik’s throat. Desperately, he tears off the helmet that’s still on his head, stupid thing, and reaches out for the dregs of the connection he’s just severed moments before.

It comes back gently, a vague awareness of Charles’ mind, weaker than he’s ever felt it, and Erik clings to the link with everything he can.

_Charles_ , Erik calls, and Charles stirs, eyes squeezing tighter, a low groan coming from his mouth. _Charles_ , Erik thinks again, gentler this time, and he can feel Charles there, it’s working, he’s alright, and then -

Then comes the pain.

And oh, Erik’s used to pain, but this? This is unlike anything he’s felt before, sharp and white-hot and jarring, right through his head, and Erik realizes with growing horror what he’s feeling an echo of. He’s so blindsided by what he’s feeling through Charles that he tumbles back for a moment, losing track of the plane and the faint sounds of battle outside and Charles laying still in front of him, and he needs a moment to get his bearings, to pull himself up in front of Charles and speak, voice hoarse with agony.

“Charles,” Erik says urgently, not daring to touch him again, “Charles, I’m here, I’m safe. You can let go. Charles, _please_ -” and the pain is lessening, he’s letting go, but Erik can feel in his own mind now just how hurt Charles is, just how weak. It terrifies him.

Charles opens his eyes slowly, blue eyes squinting against the sunlight.

“Erik,” Charles says, a little dazed, “You’re back. I didn’t notice.”

“It was the helmet,” Erik says, “that blasted thing, Charles, I’m-”

“Don’t.” Charles cuts him off, voice dark. “You did it? He’s dead?”

“He’s dead,” Erik confirms, and the look that crosses Charles’ face isn’t quite relief but it’s something very close. He moves to stand up, batting away the hand Erik offers, rising to his feet slowly.

“Then we’d better go,” Charles grimaces. “I think something is happening outside.”

***

They walk out onto the beach together, Charles leaning against Erik’s side ever so slightly, and take in the damage. Azazel, Angel and Riptide are gathered together on the sand, unsure, and there’s no sign of Emma Frost. Sean is bleeding quite heavily from a cut on his forehead, and Alex has bruises blossoming on his exposed chest, but they’re fine, if a little shaken. Moira stands a while away from the group, one hand on the gun in her belt, but as she sees Charles, steadying himself on Erik’s arm, she relaxes her stance a little.

“It’s over,” Hank says, limping with Raven’s support towards them from the other side of the shore. “Isn’t it? It’s over.”

Erik reaches out with his power, seeking the ships that still stand in a stalemate across the harbor. He understands what he’s sensing at the same time Charles reaches the ships too, stiffening at his side. They share a grim look for a moment. Killing Shaw had been one thing, but this - this was something else.

“No,” Erik says evenly. “It’s not.”

“Erik,” Charles hisses, “I can’t stop them.” He presses two fingers to his temple, but the missiles are being pointed towards them already and there’s no chance of Charles stopping them, he’s barely recovered from holding Shaw down, and controlling the minds of a hundred men from a mile away would have been difficult enough. “Erik,” his voice starts going thin, “there’s - there’s nothing I can do.”

The first missile is launched before Charles finishes speaking; the noise is deafening as it sails skywards, tailed closely by two dozen more.

Any mite of calm that Erik felt as Shaw had died dissipates completely as he lifts a hand; it’s not difficult to stop the missiles in their path, to hold them in place mere feet away from the beach.

The difficult part, Erik reflects, is stopping himself from turning the missiles around and sending them right back in the direction they had come from. Rage coils in his gut, and he allows himself, just for a minute, the satisfaction of imagining the missiles as they strike the humans’ ships, the chance to prove to the world that mutants are as powerful and as dangerous as any army, any act of war. The chance to show the governments exactly what would happen to anyone who dared threaten him.

But he doesn’t get much more than a minute, because a voice is calling him back to Earth.

“Erik,” Charles says, not ungently, touching Erik’s arm, and he doesn’t have to say anything else. Not aloud, at least.

Erik twist his hand carefully, and the dozens of missiles drop harmlessly into the sea.

***

Something lands beside him, a heavy thump in the sand.

“Found this in the submarine,” Raven says, and Erik kneels and picks up the helmet, brushing it off.

For a moment, he just looks at it.

They are the future. The future of the human race, Shaw had said, and Erik knows that he had been right. All of the power they hold, all of the suffering he’s endured, and in his hands now he holds the power to let go of everything and start fighting back. Start the _real_ fight.

Erik should leave, he knows. Gather what’s left of Shaw’s team and whoever else he can convince to join him, and disappear to somewhere far away to build the new world Shaw spoke of.

It’s what he should do. And yet -

He hazards a glance up and sees Charles, not looking at Erik, but looking with all the contempt in the world at the helmet in Erik’s hands.

Erik remembers a moment ago, when he was lying on the floor of the jet with Charles in front of him, the rage and the grief in the brief second he thought Charles might be dead. Erik remembers the seconds before he put on the helmet, the echoes in his head, and realizes about ten minutes too late that Charles had not held Shaw still while Erik drove a coin through Charles and Shaw both because he had been forced.

It had been Charles’ choice. And this helmet in his hands was Erik’s.

“We’re not the same, Charles,” Erik says, and it’s laced with pain but he means what he says.

“It doesn’t matter,” Charles says resolutely, and it’s infuriating but he’s looking at Erik with those impossibly bright blue eyes and he’s still a little pale and Erik knows that Charles could say next to anything now and Erik would agree.

“Come home with me,” Charles says, and Erik doesn’t even have to think before he’s dropping the helmet into the sand.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks so much for reading! come say hi @ lxath on tumblr


End file.
